Is it okay to pray for a sports victory--such as a Super Bowl championship? Nuns at the Carmel of the Resurrection Monastery
in Indianapolis, whose vocation is private prayer (www.praythenews.com), say yes. Sister Terese Boersig, an apparent Indianapolis Colts fan, said in an Associated Press interview, that it was okay for Colts Quaterback Peyton Manning to pray for a victory in last Sunday's game against the New Enlgland Patriots.

After the game, Manning expressed conscerned about his spiritual etiquette: "I said a little prayer on that last drive. I don't know if you're supposed to pray for stuff like that, but I said a little prayer."

Boersig said it was "abolutely" appropriate to pray for success, but she added, ''Now, what would not be appropriate is if you prayed that Tom Brady broke his leg.''

Hmmm... who and what will you be praying for come Super Bowl Sunday (Feb. 4)?

For 12 years Sister of Mercy Natalie Rossi has been a full-time chaplain at the State Correctional Institution for Women outside Erie, Pa., a minimum-security facility primarily for women nearing release. With chaplains from other faiths she coordinates programs, supervises volunteers and spiritual activities, and handles paperwork. She also makes daily visits to women in the prison infirmary and conducts pastoral counseling sessions in her office.

“My life is energized by my ministry to women in prison, a ministry of spirituality and creativity,” Sister Rossi says. “I see the women thirsting for the truth and unfolding their inner goodness. I see their eyes wanting to believe, to hope that they can make better choices; that they can begin to live out the truth of who they are: daughters of a loving God created in God’s image.

“I believe religious life is a ‘call’ as is every walk of life. One needs to search one’s inner being to listen to one’s gut. One needs to pray for guidance and wisdom for where God is leading—to listen to the promptings of the Spirit within. God does not care what we do or where we are, but wants us to begin to live out the truth of who we are.”

Though monasteries accept donations to support their life and work, many people don’t realize they have to be self-supporting, so they need to find steady ways to earn money. When the Cistercian abbey of Our Lady of Spring Bank in Sparta, Wisconsin wanted to increase their income, they thought about starting a Christmas tree farm, building a golf course and conference center, and even growing shitake mushrooms.

One day it dawned on Father Bernard McCoy, O.Cist., the monk responsible for the “temporal” needs of the community, how high the mark-up is on the price of name-brand toner and ink supplies. He then found that many companies make compatible or remanufactured cartridges for far less. Here, he thought, the monastery might be able to sell these products and also pass along considerable savings to customers.

Their business, known as LaserMonks.com, began to grow. Then, two Colorado women who were looking to sell their online ink cartridge business contacted the monks. One thing led to another, and these two offered to help the monks with business development; eventually they moved permanently onto the monastery property to manage the business under the name MonkHelper Marketing, Inc.

LaserMonks have expanded to selling a full range of office supplies to businesses, educational and medical institutions, religious organizations, and individuals. They describe their enterprise as a win-win situation: The community has a reliable and growing source of income to support themselves and their charitable works around the world, and their customers save money. Through their focus on “people benefits,” the Spring Bank Cistercians seeks to integrate entrepreneurship with their 900-year-old monastic tradition of hospitality.
The LaserMonks have received national press coverage, and in 2003 their sales increased 700 percent; this year they anticipate 200 or 300 percent growth. They estimate that last year they saved their customers $200,000.

It is "an apostolate we didn't expect," says Sister Joseph Andrew Bogdanowicz, vocation director at the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, in Ann Arbor, refering to the the internet and electronic communication in a Jan. 3, 2007 article by Michael Hodges of the Detroit News.

"It's become so all-encompassing," she said "If I'm not traveling or giving a talk, I'm e-mailing."

For young discerners, email and the internet are indispensable. Many have blogs where they post their thoughts on religious life and web rings where they discuss religious issues with others.

What blogs would you recommend Vision Vocation Guide be linked with?

Why do 1,000 Catholic sisters from four Midwestern states descend for two nights on a Chicago-area dinner theater for a meal and to watch a performance of The King and I?

What one sister calls “Nuns Night Out” is the brainchild of the theater’s 93-year-old owner, Anthony DeSantis. For 50 years he has been showing his appreciation for sisters’ contributions to society by treating them to dinner and a show. “I just always thought that the nuns do so much in this country of ours, teaching our children in grade schools and high schools,” said DeSantis, who did not attend Catholic school himself but sent his daughters to a Catholic high school.

Besides the entertainment, what the sisters seem to treasure the most is seeing one another. “It’s fabulous,” Franciscan Sister Marjorie Westendorf told the Chicago Sun-Times. “The conversation and just the being with. I think we all know sisters from other communities that we look forward to seeing.”